Museum of Northwest Colorado debuts its remodel

Craig  The Museum of Northwest Colorado is debuting its remodel, artifacts and a brand-new train diorama for Railroad Day on Thursday, which happens to be the 100th anniversary of when the railroad came to Craig.

The remodel revamped three floors and added 4,000 square feet, bumping the building’s square footage to 15,000. Two of the reworked rooms will be used for historic exhibits.

Community members can explore the museum’s new digs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, and the Craig Chamber of Commerce will host a mixer that day from 5 to 7 p.m.

The remodel also expanded storage space for a variety of historical relics.

“We’re going to have organized storage,” said Jan Gerber, assistant director of the museum. “It’ll be better cared for.”

That’s largely because of the new heating and cooling system, said Dan Davidson, director of the museum. They completely replaced the out-of-date boiler and now have state-of-the-art temperature and humidity control.

The projected cost was $150,000, but Davidson said that because of unforeseen issues, the museum went over budget. Museum funding comes from storing artifacts on state land and mineral land leases — a huge source of revenue for the museum.